Charity Carnival with the support of Make-A-Wish Foundation

Despite the gloomy, hazy weather surrounding Petaling Jaya on the Saturday morning of June 16 2012, the atmosphere at The Otomotif College (TOC) was anything but gloomy. Staff, students and visitors were all in high spirits at the TOC Charity Carnival! Held in support of Make-A-Wish Malaysia, the TOC Charity Carnival is a way for TOC to give back to the community.

At the charity carnival, participants find their skills tested at a myriad of carnival games, all for a good cause! Popular carnival games such as ring toss, can knockdown, and balloon popping booths test your aim, and for the more nimble-fingered, one could try using chopsticks to collect marbles from a jar. Naturally, attractive prizes awaited the winners! The booths were manned by both TOC staff and students who displayed great camaraderie in mingling and working with each other.

With all the fun and games, one can get hungry pretty quickly! Thankfully, hot dogs, burgers, fried noodles, samosas, nasi lemak and rojak can be found to satisfy every craving! What’s a better way to beat the afternoon heat than with freshly made cendol or delicious ice-cream? For those with a sweet tooth, fancy themed cupcakes were going like hotcakes, while confectionaries of theEast meets West as traditional kuih are stationed alongside muffins and brownies. Between all that sumptuous food and winning packs of potato chips, one would have to try pretty hard to get hungry at the TOC Charity Carnival!

A jumble sale only adds more pizzazz to a charity carnival. Pre-loved articles of clothing found a new lease of life. There were plenty of new items for sale too. Colourful, cartoon themed pajamas were on sale with coin boxes, skin care products, cute Doraemon dolls and of course, TOC merchandise. Other booths present were Go’s environmentally friendly, waterless car wash system, skills training courses from CADD and auto servicing by Auto Arcade.

The biggest highlight of the TOC Charity Carnival wasn’t the food or games, but smiles that came with bringing joy to the underprivileged. Profits from the TOC Charity Carnival were dedicated to Make-A-Wish Malaysia, an official affiliate of the largest wish-granting non-profit in the world, the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Established in 2010, Make-A-Wish Malaysia aims to grant the wishes of terminally ill children with experiences to empower them. At the TOC Charity Carnival, orphans from four homes, Rumah Sayang and [name] were the stars of the carnival. A very special guest, Tommy The Clown kept the children in stitches with his funny appearance and lively demeanour.  One lucky participant was even chosen to become his assistant as he mesmerised the crowd with his tricks that included magic shows and twisting balloons into interesting shapes amid plenty of jokes!

The TOC Charity Carnival wasn’t just a great opportunity for TOC staff and students to bond, but also for them to show their caring side and work together for a great cause. As the day winded down and the children happily waved the TOC staff and students goodbye, there was a feel-good feeling in the air that remained after the last guest had exited the campus gates.